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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22808146">To Do Better</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinMaxSpeech/pseuds/MinMaxSpeech'>MinMaxSpeech</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mortal Kombat (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Redemption, lots of talking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:41:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,645</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22808146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinMaxSpeech/pseuds/MinMaxSpeech</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Finally caught by outworld’s forces, Skarlet expected that she would soon be facing her execution. Instead, she was met by the Kahn of Outworld, who offered her a choice.</p><p>The first in her life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Do Better</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Skarlet, are you okay?” A woman sat opposite me, watching me carefully. After Shao Kahn’s fall, I had to vanish from the public eye. To avoid those that would hunt down any of the Kahn’s former allies to the death, and to find a way to survive. My loyalty to the man that bound me to the blood code still carried some weight, but not nearly enough to be worth dying for, after the man himself met his end. </p><p>Hell, maybe I wouldn’t have walked into my death even if Kahn ordered it. I like to imagine that I’d defy him, if he gave such an order. If I was being truthful, however, I probably would have embraced a painful end with open arms if it would please my former Kahn. </p><p>“I am fine.” I spoke dismissively. I had been captured by the newest Kahn’s forces, and brought to the royal palace in the heart of the realm. I assumed I was simply brought there to be executed, to be killed for the crimes I committed under the orders of a tyrant and madman. Instead, the guardsmen had removed my shackles and restraints- although they didn’t return the blade I had taken as my weapon- and simply ordered that I stay within the grounds of the palace. For hours, I simply walked around, finding myself in an immaculately-maintained garden. It was serene and peaceful. The sight of butterflies and small animals skittering around relaxed me more than I would have liked to admit. </p><p>The new Kahn, Kitana, had approached me and sat down opposite me. Outside of arms’ reach, but still close enough that both she and I could study every detail of the other’s face.<br/>“I’m sorry about the roughness with how my men apprehended you. I simply doubted that you would have believed me if I explained why I wanted you to come here.” <br/>“And that reason would be?” I raised an eyebrow, curious as to what Kitana was planning.<br/>“I want to offer you… not amnesty, but the ability to grow better.” Kitana smiled. </p><p>“Explain.” I spoke, leaning back, and meeting the blue-clad empress’ gaze. <br/>“If I executed every poor fool that did the work of Shao Kahn, Skarlet, I think I would be without an empire to lead. I neither blame you for working with him, nor for your hiding when he died.”<br/>“I would have imagined that those close to the Kahn would have met… violent deaths.”<br/>“Some did,” Kitana conceded, “But not all. I am aware of Kotal’s practice of brutality against those he dislikes, but I am not my predecessor. Nor am I his. I want to offer you a choice.”<br/>“And what would that choice be?”<br/>“You have two options. I can return you to your former life, and provided you do not attack innocents or conspire against me, I shall leave you alone outright. You do nothing to hurt me or my people, and I will have no reason to hurt you.”<br/>“And the other?”<br/>“Serve me.”</p><p>I couldn’t believe what Kitana was saying. She wanted me- a murderer, quite literally fuelled by the blood of innocents… to work with her? To work for her? It sounded insane. Offering a hand to a former enemy in Outworld alone would be seen as an act of suicidal bravery. To offer yet more would be simply seen as Suicide. And yet, I found myself fascinated by this offer.<br/>“Explain how I would serve you.”<br/>“Jade has left my side. She lives with her husband, and protects him and assists him in offering me counsel. I need someone to watch my back. Someone capable in a fight, who knows how I operate. There are few that can fill a role such as that better than you, Skarlet.”<br/>“Because I served with you when Shao Kahn still held his grip over Outworld?”<br/>“Exactly. I am a warrior, and I will not pretend that I am not skilled in my art, but I also will not pretend that I am more than one woman. I can still be overwhelmed. A woman with blood magic, however, could help that.”</p><p>I mulled it over, running Kitana’s suggestion through my mind. It was not as insane an idea as it seemed, I realised. There was no way her army of guardsmen- as well as her lethally effective advisors- would not be carefully monitoring every step I took, to ensure that my loyalty was true.<br/>“How will I sustain myself?” I questioned Kitana. I looked down at my form. I had not truly fed in weeks, or even months. Bleeding small animals dry is not the sustainable I was made to enjoy. I was meant to be bleeding the foes of Shao Kahn, not a small chicken-like beast I stumbled across in a field. <br/>“I am sure that a Kahn could find you what you need.” Kitana smirked. <br/>“Then… I accept your offer.” I slowly spoke, nodding to Kitana.</p><p>The Kahn arose to her feet, and stepped closer to me. In her hands, she held a trio of items. A vial of crimson liquid- an incredibly potent concoction of blood and poisons, designed to keep me going for prolonged periods of time, the dagger that the guards had confiscated from me, sharpened and repaired into the fine blade I remember it being, and a face mask, cracked and old, but still wholly functional in its role.<br/>“I want you at your best, Skarlet.” Kitana smiled as I took the three items, sliding the blade into my boot. <br/>“Thank you… my Kahn.” I nodded, rising to my feet also.</p><p>Kitana held her other hand out, offering a handshake. I recognised it, even if merely as a ludicrous thing that pitiable humans from earthrealm did for reasons I could not fathom. I blinked, before taking Kitana’s hand. Maybe the prejudices that Shao Kahn had instilled within me were not yet as dead as the man himself.<br/>“Thank you for this, Skarlet.” Kitana spoke.<br/>“There’s more to this than just me, isn’t there?” I questioned.<br/>“What makes you say that?” Kitana raised an eyebrow. She didn’t deny it.<br/>“The fact that you’re offering so much to me. I know you haven’t offered roles to Shao Kahn’s other allies. Most of them have ended up dead, even. So why me? Why offer me this, and yet execute the Kollector?”</p><p>Kitana laughed. <br/>“You will certainly do well in my court, if you are able to notice such details.” <br/>“Assassins have to notice patterns and abnormalities in them. Reading people is a lot of how we succeed.” <br/>“Jade has told me similarly.” Kitana nodded, “There is indeed a reason for why I am being lenient with you. I see a lot in you in common with my sister, if I am being honest.”<br/>“Mileena?”<br/>“The very same. For years, I saw her as… an abnormality. A monster, something fit only to destroy, to crush, to kill. She wasn’t even a person to me, merely a puppet for Shao Kahn in a vaguely-edenian form. I was wrong. I was so, very wrong about her.” Kitana looked away, the smile on her face contorting into a look of pain, regret, and deep sorrow. I felt sorry for the woman. In spite of being Kahn, she clearly still had a lot she deeply regretted. “She became Kahn, and even if she did not rule as fairly as she should, she still did well in a role that was destined to be taken from her. She was… incredibly intelligent, skilled, and from some accounts, even charming. And she’s gone. I can’t tell her how wrong I was, apologise for how I treated her. All I can do is live on, and remember that. It’s why I carry her sai, even. Not because I need to, or because I loved her, but because… it keeps me grounded. It reminds me that I can make mistakes, that I can do wrong, and that I should always work to be better.”</p><p>I waited for Kitana to finish, and chose my next words very carefully, not wanting to anger the woman that had done so much to try to help me, even in such a short time. I ran my calloused digits over the hardened materials that my mask had been made out of, the facial covering simply sat upon my lap.<br/>“So… what’s the connection between Mileena and I, that made you show me Mercy?”<br/>“It’s simple. You two are incredibly similar. You are both beings twisted and malformed by Shao Kahn’s horrors, both forced to exist in a world that reviled you, and you both were never offered another option. I can’t offer the chance to do more, to be more, to my sister… but I can do it for you.” <br/>“Thank you.” I spoke, unsure of what else to add. The pain Kitana felt… It was heartbreaking for me to see. Kitana was the first friendly face I had seen in a long time, she had offered so much to me, and all I had done was cause her pain.</p><p>Kitana was named Kahn, whilst still dealing with the pains of the world, of former rulers, barbarians, and so many different species, all while having to deal with her own troubles also, and managed to succeed. And I couldn’t even determine whether or not I was wrong to be loyal to Shao Kahn? On some level, I hated myself for my weakness. Already I felt as if I didn’t deserve this kindness, if I couldn’t even conclude the same as she and so many others did. </p><p>But then, that was the past, and I couldn’t change that. All I could do was make my next day better, and continue to be better and better. I was given this chance by my Kahn, I wouldn’t squander it.</p>
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